This research explores how climate change, particularly extreme heat, is affecting the livelihoods of informal women artisans whose homes double as workplaces. Conducted by SEWA Cooperative Federation and Urban Design Square, the study focuses on members of Abodana Mahila Chaapkaam SEWA Sahkari Mandali, a women-led handicraft cooperative in Ahmedabad that supports 428 home-based artisans. As heat waves become more frequent and intense in Gujarat, the research examines how workspace conditions shape artisans\u2019 ability to work, earn, and sustain their enterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using spatial mapping, activity observation, and interviews with both home-based and workshop-based artisans, the study documents how inadequate ventilation, limited access to amenities, overcrowded workspaces, power disruptions, and rising indoor temperatures affect productivity, health, and business operations. It finds that climate risks are not experienced in isolation but are amplified by existing infrastructural and economic vulnerabilities.By developing a practical framework centred on space, amenities, cooling and ventilation, and access to light, the study offers a starting point for understanding and improving climate resilience for women-led informal enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research marks an important step in SEWA Cooperative Federation\u2019s broader effort to build evidence on how climate change impacts informal women workers and the cooperatives they own and manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n